McClelland Oldchurch

If you like the flavor of this one, it may just be the finest aromatic blend ever to wear the McClellands badge... ok, it's an Ashton original, so maybe that's a bit of a false praise. But it does wear the McC marque.

Light brown ribbon with a typical aromatic nose. I wish I could place the tin aroma and the flavor, but whatever it's supposed to be eludes me. By turns I taste some sort of fruit collage, pecan, honey, butterscotch, caramel, but I can't pin it down. This one shares two traits with Sir Walter Raleigh Aromatic, one good and one not so good (for me)... it smokes very dry and therefore addresses one of the major problems of the American-style aromatic, and I don't care for the flavoring used. It wasn't horrible, but it just didn't sit well with me. But I can still respect the blend for its dry smoking and the fact that the flavor doesn't burn off midway through the bowl like most aromatics seem to do. Not too goopy and needing of pipe cleaners, even when I smoked it in a briar instead of my preferred meerschaums. And that's no mean feat! As an aside, the room note seemed to be typical black cavendish to me, similar to BCA or 1-Q, but a bit lighter.

This is a masterfully crafted aromatic. Again, if you enjoy the taste, you may find this to be one of the finest examples of a "tobacco first" aromatic out there. Nice and dry and flavorful. Wish I liked the flavor.

It's been awhile since I've smoked an aromatic, but I decided to try this one. Let's just say that the name "Oldchurch" caught my attention. The tin describes this tobacco as being of "incredible delicacy," and I would have to agree. Not being much of an aromatic fan, I preferred this blend being "light." Wanting to spare my good pipes, I used my bulldog basket pipe. It smoked cool. This would be a good tobacco for the "last smoke of the day." The room note is pleasant enough to be smoked in a well- ventilated room, without offending a wife.

I sometimes wonder about my maturity level. Let’s go back a few days. It all started at the Sunday pipe club when a member had a tin of Old Church dated 2010 practically full and I asked to try a sample. Low and behold he gave me the tin, I practically jumped out of my seat and let out a whoop. I know, worse than a spoiled kid in a candy shop and I probably accepted a little too greedily. A huge thanks to one of our veteran pipe club members for the gift and I made sure to pass this one around to anyone who also wanted to try it. This goes without saying but a few of the guys I know do on occasion read my reviews and for the record I do not use names out of respect for privacy. That’s just one of my quirks, I guess. They know who they are and a big thanks as always for the samples. I can’t pinpoint the tin note but I sensed a liquored fruit, berry scent maybe. Here are some of the descriptors from other reviewers based on tin note and/or taste: honey-sweet, caramel, band-aids, warm pecan pie, scotch, butterscotch, cocoa, blackberry, incense, vanilla, marshmallow, and last but not least chemical. Anyway, it smells good and tastes good, (that’s all that really matters) appears to be high quality leaf and I enjoyed it immensely in a corn cob. I find it interesting that the flavor profile is listed as none. Kind of odd for an aromatic, maybe a secret ingredient? Unknown? Of course, with McClelland sadly out of the business it makes this gift all the more special. I do not plan on letting this one sit for long as I enjoy it in the afternoon after work sitting on the porch and having my coffee.

McClelland - Oldchurch (Ashton Revival).

Perplexing. Listed as an aromatic, no casings specified, yet just the nose from the tin implies a sweet, and ambrosial topping? C'est la vie!

Although the cut classifies this as a broken flake, apart from a few coarse pieces, it's mostly ribbons. The blend includes more brown Virginias than black Cavendish. My tin had good moisture.

The flavour's concordant to the tin-note; there's a notable, honey-sweet, slightly fragrant, topping. Nothing 'heavy', but a definite enhancement. As is the case with all the McClelland blends I've had, the Virginias are top notch; tangy, sweet, sharp, and delicious. They give a little more flavour than the black Cavendish; but, the BC gives a soft, mellifluous, character to the smoke. It burns well, needing the occasional relight.

Nicotine: mild. Room-note: nice.

Oldchurch? A good smoke, worth a recommendation:

Three stars.

Unlike the original, there is a much lighter caramel top coat (that I could taste anyway), in this revival of the original Oldchurch. Lemon and stoved Virginia of good quality play softly throughout the smoke and it was a keep to me. Not a rich and deep Virginia base, but one that keeps me interested, especially with the flavor enhancement.

It pains me to give a tobacco a one star rating, but all I got was slightly sweet, slightly bitter hot air. This is the typical American Aro -- vanilla-y, marshmallow-y and somewhat chemical tasting. Not much tobacco taste. It did burn well and was easy to keep lit. The room note is pleasant but not stellar. I have decided to discard aromatics that compare unfavourably with Captain Black White (which is middle of the road for me), and I would much rather be smoking White than Old Church. Therefore not recommended. However, as we are all different this might suit beginners, or seasoned smokers looking for a very mild smoke.

A nice ribbon cut blend that smells like....bandaids. Smoke it slow and it reminds me of warm pecan pie. This one is difficult to explain but I sorta like it, though I won't buy it again. No bite,burns well, nice nutty room note.

Intrigued by the name and already a fan of Old Dog from McC, I gave this a try. Good clean taste but the aroma was magical to me. Not a huge aromatic fan but I will be adding this to my stable of regular blends.

A very pleasant tin note. Possibly earthy like a good rich scotch. Packs easily as it's a nice ribbon cut. Initial light gives a very distinct taste of honey. The solid honey taste melts around 2/3 of a bowl into a mixture of honey, pecans and cocoa. These flavors last through the entire bowl balancing off of each other. A nice easy smoke when taken slow and easy.

I may imbibe in a bowl or two before bed. This Rev. occasionally appreciates the Old Church. The Mrs. even likes the room note, though she can't identify it. The tin note is wonderful and I'm not an aro guy.

Update, been mixing with G/H unscented Dark Flake, 50/50. Gives it some Nic strength and all the Lakeland essence I can handle. One of those blends that works, has become one of my go-to's every day...